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Motorhomes rock


smellmycheese

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10 hours ago, smellmycheese said:

But they're so fucking expensive! Anyone know of anywhere in Europe (or further) where they're reasonably priced? 

Just wait until the middle of December.  The pre-Xmas cash panic and foul weather will see a lot of  this summer's staycation camper purchases suddenly for sale and it will then be a buyers market.

Probably.

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Maybe “staycations” have also fuelled it Recently. You can also search for “race van” which will get you a selection of converted panel vans that are essentially camper vans that are a bit more basic but also a bit more low key.
 

Not glamourous but also no flower garland needed for hanging on the rear view mirror. Think motorway maintenance rather than summer of love; ironically the getting out of the rat race and going to California look requires a rat race sized budget. Coolness is a frighteningly expensive luxury.

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Wait a few months.  The prices have gone mental over this summer as a huge portion of folks who would normally have blown many many thousands of pounds going abroad have felt the absolute need to go somewhere and have turned to the camper market.

I've had two folks try to buy mine in the last month or so - the first of whom had got up to bidding seven and a half grand before I finally got through to them that I wasn't kidding when I said "not for sale."

Overall though, avoid anything with a VW badge old or new.  Peugeot/Talbot/Fiat based ones usually seem to be a bit cheaper than the rest, probably because they were when new so more were sold.  Do keep in mind though that they rust for fun and some of them were painfully under-engined.  Do you really want a couple of tonnes of coach-built camper being dragged along by a 1.6 litre engine?  They're probably fine enough for a converted van, but I'd look for something beefier for a coach built one personally.

My Merc is hardly a speed machine being a 2.3 normally aspirated diesel, but every time I go any real distance the number of these I pass on the motorway audibly screaming their guts out while managing 40-50mph is quite conspicuous.

The other thing which puts me off the Talbot Express (etc) range is that I know from Citroen ownership that PSA have a diabolically poor approach to legacy parts supply...and I don't know if that's an issue which has started to impact those vans yet.

Parts availability is one area where Mercedes get major points.  While you occasionally will get the odd dealer who gets snarky about ordering parts for a van, the vast majority of parts for my T1 I've needed (up to and including a replacement lens for the indicator warning light on the dash) have been available off-the-shelf from Mercedes themselves for reasonable money.  The brake pads and air filter were cheaper than eBay.

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2 hours ago, sgtberbatov said:

Just buy a Toyota RAV4 and a tent. Don't be one of these VW "One life, live it" wankers. We've got enough of them on the road. 

I own a VW and although I am a dedicated and very keen wanker, having been inspired by this very forum to 'stranglewank with my own beard'. I'm much happier doing stuff like that in my T2 with the curtains drawn, than in a tent pitched up next to a RAV4. 

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I thought one life live it was Land Rovers not veedubs... 

50 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

The other thing which puts me off the Talbot Express (etc) range is that I know from Citroen ownership that PSA have a diabolically poor approach to legacy parts supply...and I don't know if that's an issue which has started to impact those vans yet.

It’s not too bad, except on certain parts. (Headlights being one) because they’re still a popular van there’s some specialists who do parts, and even some remanafacturing going on. 

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2 hours ago, barefoot said:

I own a VW and although I am a dedicated and very keen wanker, having been inspired by this very forum to 'stranglewank with my own beard'. I'm much happier doing stuff like that in my T2 with the curtains drawn, than in a tent pitched up next to a RAV4. 

Who said you pitch the tent next to the RAV4? 

Put the seats down and sleep in the RAV4 on a hill in the boggy field. The tent is just for crapping in.

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It seems prices have already started softening, from just a couple of weeks ago. Stuff  that would have sold within an hour or so of being listed is not moving. T25s that would have statrted at £5k at the beginning of August are back to £3.5/4K . 
I’ve never known a bubble burst so quickly on any vehicles before, the sun went in and suddenly the market collapsed.

Im going to leave it until December unless something amazing comes up , a Commer or maybe a J2 for a couple of grand, for example.  Of course by then, we, along with a lot of other people , will have forgotten about campers and booked a proper holiday.
 

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Grumpy voice on. I'm glad if the market is dying off. Hopefully the assault on the wilderness will also die off. These overnight VW Instagram beardhumping sandalwankers have been pulling up in some of my favourite out of the way stopovers and absolutely raping the place. Dumped chemical toilets, barbeques and endless bagloads of rubbish. Old granny Scots pines getting set on fire. If it keeps happening we'll soon see overnight parking becoming taboo or illegal, which will only please the curtain twitchers and campsite owners.  

To get back on point, motorhomes do indeed rock, and to get them cheaply either requires some fettling with an old one or building one. The race van suggestion is also good as it can provide a base to start with with a lot of the expensive bits done for you.

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^ I reckon this is how I'll make my fortune*

Buy £300 rotten Tranny. 

Buy £300 rotten caravan. 

Spend £300 on pop rivets. 

Spend an afternoon morphing the caravan onto the Tranny, but leave unfinished. 

Sell as 'exciting project' for £3000. 

WCPGW? 

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On 9/4/2020 at 9:21 AM, sutty2006 said:

What you need is an LDV convoy with the later transit engine and convert it to your own camper using a nackered old caravan.,

 

 

go on......what are you waiting for? 
 

 

 

 

 

 

have you bought one yet? 

I can see it... drive 300 miles to Cornwall at 50 in one, the deafening din from the engine for company on the motorway and rowing the gearstick set in a bag of shingle back and forth to keep progress on those uphill stretches. Then spend winter outside, alone, cold and depressed on the driveway welding the fucker up as you lament that you could have been sat in Tenerife with a pint of San Miguel and plate of Paella in front of you under the current bun for much less money.  

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57 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I can see it... drive 300 miles to Cornwall at 50 in one, the deafening din from the engine for company on the motorway and rowing the gearstick set in a bag of shingle back and forth to keep progress on those uphill stretches. Then spend winter outside, alone, cold and depressed on the driveway welding the fucker up as you lament that you could have been sat in Tenerife with a pint of San Miguel and plate of Paella in front of you under the current bun for much less money.  

Where’s the autoshite adventure in that? ?

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1 hour ago, sierraman said:

I can see it... drive 300 miles to Cornwall at 50 in one, the deafening din from the engine for company on the motorway and rowing the gearstick set in a bag of shingle back and forth to keep progress on those uphill stretches. Then spend winter outside, alone, cold and depressed on the driveway welding the fucker up as you lament that you could have been sat in Tenerife with a pint of San Miguel and plate of Paella in front of you under the current bun for much less money.  

we used to go on holiday in the back of a VW van , set off from Kettering at 4am asleep on a mattress in the back  , wake up and you're on holiday

 

It was a magical experience when you're 8 ,apart from the one time when dad had to take evasive action at 60mph on the M5 as a crash happened in front of him and I woke up in mid air separated from the mattress

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